Just This Once
by MizScarlet
Summary: Takes place after Torchwood COE. I know that this has been done a lot recently, but not quite like this. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a happy ending. Nothing new, just a little editorial cleanup.
1. Give Me a Day Like This

**A/N:** If any of the references are unfamiliar go back to season 1 of Doctor Who, "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances", Jack's first eappearance. Also, there is one part in here the mom in me just had to add. You'll know it when you see it.

**Just This Once…**

Moments after Captain Jack Harkness left Earth behind, he appeared on the transport and collapsed into John Hart's arms. Unable to contain himself or stop the tears, all he can say is "He's gone. I've lost everything and it's all my fault."

"Shh," says John, holding tightly onto Jack. "We'll find a way to fix this." He can't bear to see Jack this way. Jack is the strongest person he knows. Not even hundreds of years buried alive was able to break him, but this…

"We can't. It will mess with the timeline." Jack can't bear to even open his eyes. He's held this in for too long. He can't stand the pain any longer.

"We'll find a way that won't mess with the timeline. I'll find a way. I'll fix this. The Universe owes you this much." Despite the fights, the misunderstandings, the violence, the deaths, John does love Jack, in his own way. He wants to do this for him, it's not just the Universe that owes Jack. "Maybe just this once…"

"Everybody lives," Jack whispers softly to himself. All of a sudden he stands up with more energy and hope than he's felt in months. "That's it! You're a genius!"

"I am? Of course I am. Wait, what?" John's confusion is clear, but Jack is ignoring him. He's too busy entering new coordinates into the ships navigation system. "Where are we going?" John finally asks him. "To find a Chula ship we can steal," was Jacks answer.

"Sounds good to me. Why?" Not that John particularly cared. Adventure, stealing, just seeing Jack act more like his old self than the broken shadow of a man who landed on his ship was enough for John.

"Nanogenes," Jack said with a grin. "We just need to make sure they're familiar with humans before we take the ship to Earth. Really don't want anything like the gas mask people happening again."

"Do I want to know what that means?"

"No."

"Just checking. Let's find ourselves a Chula ship."

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It had only been a few days since Gwen had said goodbye to Jack. She certainly hadn't expected him to turn up on her doorstep looking so happy, especially with Captain John Hart in tow. "What's going on? I thought you needed to get away, to travel."

"I did. I have. Now I'm back." Jack can hardly contain himself. "I need the bodies of everyone killed by the virus."

"That's not possible. The government has them and won't release them because they can't be sure the virus is truly gone. Or so they say. Besides, you run off then come back here as if nothing happened and start making demands? You can't do that Jack."

"But I can fix this. I can bring them back. At least, there's a chance I can. Just tell them to bring the bodies to the airfield, and that I have a medical ship that can make sure any virus left in the bodies is neutralized. They don't need to know the rest."

"You really think you can bring them back?" Gwen shoots a look at John Hart, wondering just how far off the deep end Jack has gone and how much John has had a part in it.

"Yes, I do. We may have waited too long, though. The only other case I know of, the person was brought back soon after death. Well, partially brought back, but I've got that problem fixed. That shouldn't happen this time."

"If you know how to bring someone back from death, then how come you didn't do this for Owen or Tosh?"

"Because it involves an alien ship from another century, and I didn't have access to a Vortex Manipulator with a working time travel function. I do now." Jack smiles at John who just looks pleased with himself. It was almost like old times hunting down and stealing that ship, and it looked like all was finally forgiven. "Just get the bodies to the air field." With that, they both activate the teleport with their wrist straps and vanish in front of Gwen's eyes.

"Guess I better call my contact then," Gwen says to herself.

Later that day, soldiers are unloading gurneys with bodies in body bags in front of an alien ship, as Jack supervises. "We need to get them out of the bags then onto the ship. Then just step back and wait."

"Jack. Just what is this ship, and how is this supposed to work?" Gwen finally asks. "What are we doing here other than disrespecting the dead?"

"It's a Chula medical ship. It's filled with nanogenes."

Gwen looks inside. "The ship is empty, Jack."

"They're subatomic robots. You can't see them. Though, there is kind of a glow when they're working. Their only function is to fix up the soldiers and get them back out. They can fix anything, as long as they have enough genetic information to get it right."

"And do they?"

"Well, they've seen John and me."

"Great, they're going to use an immortal and a psychopath from the 51st century as a template. Sounds perfect."

"Hey, I'm the picture of perfection." Jack grins. "Besides, the bodies should be intact. They just need to know what a human is like when alive. I'm a prime example of someone full of life."

_I hope this works._ Gwen thinks to herself. _I can only imagine how devastated Jack will be if it doesn't._ Then Gwen notices that Jack has gone still, the smile wiped from his face, as a child is removed from one of the body bags. _Oh no, Steven._

"What's he doing here?" Jack stammers. "The funeral…"

"The casket was empty. They wouldn't release the body. I guess they didn't want any evidence to get out."

"You knew?" Jack says in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What good would it have done?" Gwen countered. "You couldn't have done anything about it, and it just would have upset you. I was worried about you."

Jack doesn't respond. He just takes Steven in his arms and carries him into the ship. Gwen follows, waiting to see what would happen. Suddenly, she sees a glowing cloud envelop them. When it fades, she watches in stunned silence as the child stirs.

"Uncle Jack?" Steven says as he opens his eyes. "I think a had a bad dream. Where am I?"

"It doesn't matter," Jack says through tears of joy. "Everything's fine now. Everything's going to be okay." He hugs the boy close to him for a moment, then looks around as other bodies are being brought in and revived. "It's working," he whispers. Then he looks at Gwen with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Go on, then," she says. "Go find him. I'll stay with Steven." Jack thanks her and rushes off to find the one person he has done all this for.

Steven is looking around him in awe. "Is it magic?" he asks.

"No, pet. I think your Uncle Jack finally got his miracle."

"Why did he need a miracle?"

"The Universe owes him one." she replied, and that's all she would say as she hugged the boy and wiped tears from her eyes.

Jack carried Ianto's still form into the ship, then sat down and held his breath. Would it work? Or would everyone come back but him? The wait seemed forever, but was only moments. Another glowing cloud, and a pair of blue eyes opened and stared into his. "Jack? I thought I died. What is this? What happened?"

"You're on a Chula medical ship. The nanogenes it's stocked with brought you and everyone else back." Then Jack couldn't contain himself any longer, and kissed Ianto as if his life depended on it. When he finally pulled back, he looked Ianto in the eyes and said "I love you, and I will NEVER forget you. In millions of years, when I've forgotten my own name, I'll still remember you. Don't ever think otherwise."

For a moment, Ianto is stunned. Then he smiles. He's waited a long time for this, and it only took his death to get Jack to admit it. "So, does this mean we're a couple now?"

Jack grins. "I guess so."

"Good. You know you're an idiot, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

"Just checking." Then Ianto kisses Jack as if he will never stop. When he finally pulls away so he can breathe, he notices John hanging around watching them.

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

"Just how did you get this miracle ship?

"From someone who didn't need it."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"No, it doesn't." If anything, Jack's grin is even wider.

"Okay."

"Come on. Let's get out of here. We have some people to surprise."

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Alice opens her door to see the smiling face of a man she had never wanted to see again. But before she can slam the door in his face, a movement behind him catches her eye. "Steven?" She grabs her little boy up in her arms and holds him as if she will never let him go. She turns to Jack. "But how?" Jack just smiles and turns away as Steven whispers in his mother's ear. "Can't you stay?" she asks, still in shock and afraid she will wake up from this beautiful dream.

"I can't," Jack says as he heads back to the car where Ianto waits for him. "I have other people I need to give some good news to."

"Don't be a stranger," she says to Jack as she finally convinces herself this is all real.

Jack turns to face her. He smiles. "I won't. I promise." Then he gets in the car and drives away. Next stop Ianto's sister's place. Maybe she'll forgive him too.


	2. A Happy Surprise

**A Happy Surprise**

Ianto hesitated before ringing his sister's bell. He wasn't sure how she would take seeing him on her doorstep several months after she was told he had died. There didn't seem to be a better way of doing this so, with Jack for moral support, he went ahead and rang the bell. When Rhiannon answered the door, there was stunned silence then a loud but joyful scream as she threw herself at her brother and wrapped her arms around him. "They told me you were dead!"

"It's a long story. Can we come inside first?" For the first time Rhiannon noticed Jack and gave her brother a questioning look. Ianto blushed a bit and said "I'll explain that too."

They went inside where a shocked Johnny just smiled and said "Welcome back." The kids were as excited as Rhiannon and jumped all over Ianto. They may not have been old enough to completely understand what death meant, but they understood their mother was sad and their uncle was never coming back. All that left their minds as they saw him standing in their living room.

"So spill it," Rhiannon demanded. "What have you been doing all this time other than making me a complete wreck?" She gave her brother a little smack for emphasis.

Ianto looked at Jack for support. Before coming here, they had agreed they would tell as much of the truth as possible. There would be no lies and no cover up. After everything they'd been through, they deserved as much of the truth as they could accept. "You might want to sit down," Ianto started. His sister just glared at him. "I really was dead. I and everyone else killed by the virus released by the 456 in Thames house were brought back to life using alien technology that Jack here brought back from the future."

There was complete silence before his sister hit him again. "You expect me to believe that? Where were you?"

Jack decided this was a good time to intervene. "He's telling you the truth."

"And you are?" Rhiannon asked while looking Jack up and down.

"Captain Jack Harkness, I'm Ianto's boss and we both work for Torchwood. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Rhiannon, like many people in Wales, didn't really need an explanation of what was Torchwood. Something did click at the word "boss", however. She looked at her brother and saw his brief nod. So this was the man he'd been seeing. Well, Captain Jack Harkness may be the leader of Torchwood, but he had no idea what he was up against with Rhiannon Davies especially with regards to her brother.

"You can travel to the future?"

"I'm from the future, the 51st century to be exact."

Rhiannon looked to Ianto for confirmation and was shocked when she received it. Oh well, it wasn't actually any weirder than the government sending soldiers to take their children away just to give them to a bunch of aliens. Despite all the cover stories, word had gotten around as to what had really happened. No one around here would trust any "official story" from the government ever again. "Maybe I should sit down."

"That's probably a good idea," Ianto said.

"So, you were dead."

"Yes."

"And now you're not."

"And now I'm not." Ianto felt that his sister was actually taking this pretty well. It must be a tremendous shock for her. It probably would be easier to believe that the government had lied about his death and he had just been in hiding. However, in the long run, the truth would be better for all of them.

Rhiannon looked at Jack. "So, Harkness, just what are your intentions toward my brother?" Ianto nearly choked. Of all the things she could have said at that point, this had never crossed his mind.

Jack just smiled. "I plan to love him and be with him for the rest of his life, if he'll have me." Ianto just looked at Jack in wonder. For a commitment-phobe, Jack was making a lot of progress all of a sudden.

"Do you plan on making things official, or do you just expect him to stick around without any real commitment from you?"

"Rhiannon!" Ianto couldn't believe his sister had just said that. He began to fear that she would scare Jack off. He shouldn't have worried.

"If that's what he wants, I would love to make things official."

Ianto couldn't decide who was surprising him more, Jack or his sister. "You don't have to do that, Jack. Don't let her pressure you into anything you don't really want."

Jack took Ianto's face in his hands and looked deep into his eyes. "This **is** what I want. I lost you once. I have a second chance now and I'm not going to waste it."

Being the practical man he is, Ianto had to point out a small problem with all of this. "Isn't there the slight problem of the fact that you don't officially exist?"

Jack laughed. "That's never stopped me before, besides there are ways to fix that. I promise that it will be completely legal and binding."

"Do I get a ring?"

"Do you want one?"

"Of course he wants one!" Rhiannon shouted. "You two are going to do this right."

Ianto's face turned red as Jack laughed. Then Jack turned to Ianto and asked "Do you want to come with me and pick it out?"

Ianto calmed down as he began to accept that Jack truly meant everything he was saying. "No, I trust you."

"I never understood that," Jack replied.

This time it was Ianto who looked deep into Jack's eyes. "You're a good man Jack. You've made a lot of mistakes in your life, but deep down you are a good person. You need to believe that; I do. The only thing I ask is no more secrets. If we're really going to do this, I need you to be honest with me and not shut me out."

"If I told you everything, you wouldn't want to be with me."

"It hasn't scared me off, so far." Ianto had a point. No matter what he learned about Jack and his past along the way, he stuck by him. "I suppose we'll need to start looking at flats tomorrow. I gather mine is long gone."

"Don't you want a house?" Rhiannon asked.

"What for?" Ianto responded. "It's not like we're going to have kids.

"You could. They've got surrogates for that, you know."

"Actually," Jack jumped in," we wouldn't need one." Shocked silence met that announcement as everyone looked at Jack. "I don't suppose anyone really wants the details on that, do they?" There was a resounding "No!" before Ianto added that he would but only in private.

Rhiannon recovered first and grabbed Ianto by the elbow. "Go talk to the family," she told Jack. Ianto and I need to discuss wedding plans." She left Jack to his trial by fire, also known as getting to know her husband and children. The kids were almost as protective of their uncle as she was.

"We're not getting married, Rhiannon, it's a civil partnership."

"I don't care what the government calls it, you're having a wedding and it's going to be in a church."

"But I'm not religious! Besides they won't want to do it."

"Some do, and I'll find one that does. You're getting married before God."

"Do I have any say in this?"

"None at all. If I left this to the two of you, you'd just be signing papers in some government office somewhere."

Ianto opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. He had already died once; he really shouldn't risk his life again so soon. He sighed; he knew when he was beat. "I'm not wearing a dress."

"Well of course not. You're not a woman. You'll wear a tuxedo like everyone else does when they get married."

"Jack would probably rather wear a military dress uniform, particularly an RAF uniform from the 1940's."

For a moment, Rhiannon was confused "Why would he…? Don't tell me he was actually there!"

"Jack served in both world wars, he just has a soft spot for the 40's for some reason. Don't worry about it. I'll track that down." Noticing the look on his sister's face Ianto said "This is why I don't tell you things."

"Oh don't you dare try that, Ianto Jones!" came the angry response. "You're not shutting me out again. I don't care how insane it sounds or how disturbing it is, you're telling me everything from now on."

Ianto looked amused. "You're going to regret that."

"We'll see. Now does Jack have any family here, or are they all in another century?"

"He has a daughter. They weren't speaking for a while, but I think things have been smoothed over."

"How old is she?"

"I'm not sure, older than me. She has a school-aged son. Jack's older than he looks."

"Just how old is he?"

"With time travel it can be kind of hard to calculate precisely. I'd estimate just under 2000 years old. But don't mention that to him, he can be a bit vain and he's worried about looking older. Changed your mind yet?"

"No! How can that be possible? Are all people from his time like that?"

"No, Jack went traveling with a Time Lord called The Doctor and came back with a bit of a problem staying dead. Unlike most people, when Jack talks about forever he actually means it. You're sure you wouldn't rather be kept in the dark?"

"Very sure, now let's go rescue Jack, we need to talk guest lists."


	3. Wedding Bells

**Wedding Bells**

Jack had apparently survived being left alone with Johnny and the kids. They all seemed quite taken with him, and Rhiannon felt a little better now that Jack had passed this "test". Still, she felt obliged to put the fear of God, or at least of her, in him. She moved closer to Jack and looked him straight in the eyes. "Before we start talking about who's invited to the wedding, there's one thing we need to get clear, Jack. If you ever do anything to hurt Ianto, if you ever even think of breaking his heart, what I'll do to you will make you wish you could die. Do we understand each other?"

"Absolutely," replied Jack, who then looked over at Johnny expectantly.

"I'd threaten you too but, really, she's the one you need to worry about, especially when it comes to him," Johnny said pointing at his brother-in-law. Jack laughed. This wasn't exactly the first time he'd been given this kind of "threat" by a family member of someone he loved. It wasn't quite the same as the other times, though. Jack had already hurt Ianto enough in the short time they had been together. He would do anything to make sure that never happened again.

"Now that's over with, let's get on with the guest list," said Rhiannon as she scrounged up a pen and some paper. "There's not much family on our side, and I can handle anyone else who ought to be invited. You can stop rolling your eyes at me, Ianto Jones. What I need to know is what friends the two of you want invited and any family that Jack wants invited. I can send the invitations out to anyone one this planet and in this time period, anyone else I'll give the invitation to you and you can figure out how to get it to them. Start talking."

Jack and Ianto looked at each other and tried to think of everyone they would want. "Well, there's my daughter Alice and my grandson Steven, they're local," said Jack.

"There's Gwen and Rhys," added Ianto. "And we can't forget Lois, after all she's done."

"We need to invite Andy," said Jack.

"He didn't even go to Gwen's wedding, and he's known her longer. Why would he come to ours?"

"I don't think he has any unresolved feelings toward you that would make him stay home," Jack said with a grin.

"He might, you never know," Ianto laughed. "We need to invite Martha and her husband, and I suppose you'll want to invite the Doctor."

"Yeah, of course you never know what he'll look like or who he'll bring with him. Or what kind of trouble will follow, for that matter. Though, usually he will fix whatever problem he attracts. We'll have to count him as potentially up to four people. You never know how many companions he has at any given moment. How about John?"

"You want to invite John? Isn't that asking for trouble?"

"Who's John?" Rhiannon demanded.

"Jack's heavily armed, psychopathic, homicidal ex."

"There will be no guns at the wedding", Rhiannon stated.

Jack laughed. "You won't be able to keep them out, unless you want to make everyone go through a metal detector. We're better off letting all the professionals stay armed. And as for John, he did help me get what I needed to bring back you. Besides he'd be pissed off if we didn't invite him, and a lack of an invitation has never stopped him from going places before. It's better to just invite him."

"Can we at least limit his arsenal and/or his drinking?" begged Ianto. Rhiannon and Johnny looked at each other in disbelief. And they thought they knew some tough people.

"I'll see what I can do," replied Jack. "Maybe we can get the Doctor to keep an eye on him, if he manages to come that is. That reminds me, we need to add Sarah Jane and Luke. After that mess with the Daleks, they seem like family now. Of course, if we have any new members of Torchwood by then, they'll need to be invited too."

"Speaking of which," started Ianto a bit nervously, "I've been thinking about how hard it's been to find appropriate personnel and I have an idea that may broaden the applicant pool a bit."

"Okay," said Jack who was very curious, "what's your idea?"

"Well, seeing as there have been a number of aliens over the years who somehow got stranded here but were able to be assimilated into society, it seems to me that some of them might be interested in working for Torchwood. They would definitely have unique knowledge and skills, and they wouldn't be shocked by everything. Since Earth is their home now, why not let them help defend her? You always said you wanted to change Torchwood. Isn't it about time Torchwood wasn't human-only?"

"That's actually a good idea. I can't believe I never thought of that. Old habits, I suppose, but how did you know about the assimilated aliens? I did that on my own, that wasn't part of Torchwood."

Ianto smiled. "I've told you Jack, I know everything."

Jack laughed. "So it would seem. Well now I know why I hired you."

"I thought it was because I looked good in a suit."

"And out of it," Jack said with a leer.

"Jack! There are children present!" Ianto's face was turning bright red.

"They've heard worse," said Johnny.

Ianto turned to his sister. "See what you've done? Now he's not going to hold back at all. I hope you're happy."

"Very much so," Rhiannon said with a smile.

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Later that evening, when Jack and Ianto were in a hotel room getting ready for bed, Ianto said "I wonder who will win."

"What are you talking about?" asked Jack.

"The fight between my sister and Gwen over who's planning this wedding. Now normally I'd bet Rhiannon against anybody, but Gwen is trained and she has a gun."

"Hmm," said Jack with a grin, "You're right; it's too close to call. It's a good thing we're staying out of it."

"There's only one thing I need for that day."

"What's that?"

"You."

"There's nothing in the entire universe that could keep me away."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Speaking of which," Jack said with a certain look on his face, "there's something I want to hold you to."

Ianto just laughed and got under the covers.

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Miraculously, Gwen and Rhiannon managed to come to an agreement regarding wedding planning without any bloodshed. True to her word, Rhiannon found a local church willing to host the ceremony. Lois did her part by making sure all the necessary paper work was filled out and filed. Contrary to popular belief and as Lois well knew, Jack did officially exist. That information was considered top secret, however, and was not allowed to be made public. Lois made sure to get everything she needed from the appropriate government officials to make sure the marriage (well, civil partnership) was legal.

Both Ianto's niece and nephew as well as Jack's grandson were part of the wedding party. Rhiannon stood up for Ianto, while Alice stood up for Jack. The doctor did make it to the wedding with a new companion and in his 11th incarnation. John, while remaining heavily armed, mostly behaved himself and seemed genuinely happy for the couple. (Though he may have just been imagining being in bed with both of them.)

The reception ended up being something of a neighborhood event. Many of the parents remembered how Gwen had tried to save their children from the government and the 456. Both Gwen and Rhiannon made sure they also knew how much both Jack and Ianto had done and sacrificed to protect their families. They all wanted to show their appreciation by attending the blessed event.

It wasn't a dignified affair by any means. There were cheers and cat calls during Jack and Ianto's first kiss. But a good time was had by all, and there was a genuine feeling of family among the varied guests. It was more than Jack and Ianto could have hoped for. Well, that and the stunning realization that the only aliens at the wedding were actually invited guests. That in itself seemed something of a miracle for a Torchwood wedding.

There was even a surprise wedding gift from the local youth. They were presented with the Torchwood SUV at the reception. It had been fully decorated for the occasion. Jack and Ianto were both touched by the gesture. They had both spent so long working in anonymity with Torchwood without any recognition for what they and the others had done to protect the people of Earth. Things really had changed. Not only did people know who they were and some of what they did, they had welcomed them into their community and their families. It was just one small spot out of the entire planet, but it was more than they had ever expected. Maybe not everyone on Earth was ready but these people, the ones the government had written off, were and it made all the difference.


End file.
